Abhisit crackdown case ruling put off

The Appeal Court yesterday put off until Feb 17 its ruling in a case involving former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his former deputy Suthep Thaugsuban in connection with the deadly military crackdown on red-shirt protesters in 2010.

The postponement came after Mr Suthep failed to show up yesterday. Only Mr Abhisit, accompanied by his lawyer, was in court.

The court said a notice sent by mail to Mr Suthep, the second defendant, could not be delivered as there was no one to receive it. The court accepted that the defendant was not aware of the scheduled date. It therefore rescheduled the reading of its judgement to Feb 17. The two defendants were both asked to appear in court.

In August last year, the Criminal Court dismissed murder charges filed against Mr Abhisit and Mr Suthep in connection with the military’s suppression of protests in 2010.

The court ruled it did not have jurisdiction in the case, which should have been brought before the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Position-Holders.

Special case litigation prosecutors at the Office of the Attorney-General earlier sought to indict the two men in the Criminal Court, as recommended by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI).

The attempted prosecution followed several court rulings that found some protesters were shot dead by soldiers acting on the orders of the now-defunct Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES), set up by the then-Democrat-led government under Mr Abhisit.

Mr Suthep was deputy prime minister and the director of the CRES during the protest, acting on behalf of Mr Abhisit, who was the prime minister.

Both Mr Abhisit and Mr Suthep denied the charges and submitted a petition to the court arguing the DSI did not have the power to handle the investigation.

The Criminal Court said the two men had declared a state of emergency and ordered soldiers to clamp down on the protesters, and allowed them to use weapons and live ammunition to retake areas occupied by red-shirt demonstrators.

But Mr Abhisit and Mr Suthep had issued orders in their legal capacity as prime minister and deputy prime minister, the court said.

The case fell within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Position-Holders.

The prosecution appealed on Sept 17 last year.